Monthly Archives: May 2014

We went out to close the hatch as usual but found no chickens. Looking up there they were! Apparently the cherry tree is the new favourite spot. The clock is ticking and I know I should deal with it now but procrastination is my surname, the cockerels are trying out their voices already and new chicks are to be born pretty soon. Just have to work the courage up…

So I planted my new quince tree next to the hen yard, over the weekend I did enough work in the garden to not feel guilty about going into the darkroom today. Well actually I got some sun anyways. I mixed some new Cyanotype chemistry and just had to try it out, to see if it was good enough. Not too long ago I did a favour to someone and was promised a brand new custom built contact printing frame, it arrived yesterday. Of course I had to try it out! Found all sorts of papers and fabric in my cupboard, sometimes it’s good being a collector(for storage space its not!). In the end I made a bag, some Cyanotype pics from wet plate negatives and a t-shirt and I got a bit of a tan.

I took a trip off the island to buy some plants. This is something I don’t indulge in very often. Every time I visit a garden center or flower shop I end up buying loads but now I planned to let myself buy one type of berry bush, one flower and a tree. I applaud myself on doing very well indeed! This place we went to is just amazing, they have everything and it’s all very good quality. I bought a blackberry bush with no thorns, two flowers, one bag of seeds and a quince tree. For years I’ve dreamt about having a quince tree since trying the marmalade. Apparently in Greece(or somewhere, quince is called marmelado, hence marmelade). As it turns out it’s not really suited for this climate. It can survive in the south of Sweden but after some googling I found examples that proved this wrong. I like a challenge. Didn’t really matter because my my mind was set to it before the deal but it’s nice that they warn the ignorant customers of the hardships to come. Maybe I forgot to warn my mother that I was planning to buy a tree…it did luckily fit in her car though and I had plenty of funny looks and comments on the way home. Waiting for the bus in the usually boring cement bus stop I sat there in the shade of my tree, thinking of how nice it was and if they would make me pay an extra fare on the bus. It was so nice, everyone should try carrying their own tree around! On the other side of the ferry there was a long wait for the next bus to my house so contradicting my promise to my mother, I took the tree on the moped. It survived! Now I just have to decide where to plant it.

Chili poppers yes! I made the nicest(and smallest) chili poppers yesterday. Bought lots of cheese, mozzarella, cheddar and cream cheese. Came home to find only four smallish chilies in my kitchen, could have sworn they were bigger and that there more of them. Anywho, I sliced the tiny chilies in half, stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon. Grilled in the oven and served with fish dipped in sriracha(chili sauce) and chips. They were gone in a second but oh so lovely! The Cascabella chili is now my new favourite, so fruity. Espelette didn’t taste very much but maybe cause it was still green. Next time I’m gonna try the black chilies and deep fry them. All my apologies for the miss spellings! I’ve tried to figure out how you actually spell chilli, chili and plural but to no avail…

Chillies are growing strongly. I had loads of chilli plants for the plant-and seed exchange day. Most people were interested in the Czekoslovakian black chili. At the end of the day I turned the red heating lamp off and realised that I’d given everyone the wrong type of chilli…oops! Now there are lots of beautiful purple flowers on my window sill. I replanted most of them today into very big pots. Some of the pictures on the Facebook chilli group are so impressive I hardly dare to share any images but I’m still happy with mine and there are loads of different fruits coming. Seems like the secret is lots of light, nurturing and big pots. When I first started liking chillies I couldn’t make out a habanero from a cayenne but now I’ve started to really notice the flavour and not only the strength. Looking forward to making my own chilli flakes and maybe chilli sauce.

Now they are definitely growing with speed! From day to day I see new feathers growing out. My guess is three cockerels, no question about it, but I reckon there will be more, we’re happy with half at least…but then you never know. Well we will know when they start kuckeli-kuing. If there are more than 3 hens we will sell them otherwise keep them. As it turns out though a neighbour with a different kind of breed has had problems with having chicks so he might donate some eggs for Nugget(who yesterday decided she wants to have babies to) to lay on and then he can have the chickens when Nugget says so.

Yep it’s Bugget. Pidgey have by now gotten tired of being a mother and only helps out when she absolutely has to. She even picks at the chickens and eats all food herself. Bugget breaks off small pieces of food and clucks of the chicks to come and eat. The chicks are braver for everyday and venture further away from Bugget but as soon as she calls them they come running. It is however getting a wee bit crowded…